Focus On: Luciferianism

Sam Stoker

Luciferianism is a religion that follows Lucifer, the Morning Star, the deity and figure associated with the planet Venus.

Christianity views Lucifer as being a fallen angel, becoming Satan himself, the devil, ruler of Hell and torturer of sinners, the epitome of evil personified. However, Luciferians take the name Lucifer at its original Latin - ‘light bringer’ or ‘dawn bringer’. The planet Venus also takes the name ‘Morning Star’ as it is visible in the morning (and evening) and appears as if a star in the sky, so the two have been intrinsically linked.

The idea of Lucifer as the morning star dates back to ancient cultures such as Greece, Egypt, and even draws similarities with the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Inanna, who was conflated with the planet Venus also - she descended into the Underworld and returned, much like Venus is observed to ‘set’ and ‘rise’, and similar to the Christian Lucifer’s descent from the heavens following his rejection.

Luciferianism has both theistic and nontheistic followers. Theistic Luciferians see Lucifer as a deity to follow, or as a kind of teacher or prophet. They often follow Thelema or the Left-Hand Path (watch out for future Focus On: instalments to learn more about these!) and may follow the Neo-Luciferian Church, an organisation based on Thelema and the teachings of Aleister Crowley. They are likely to be heavily involved in strict ritual and ceremonial magic.

Nontheistic Luciferians take the idea of Lucifer as a symbol rather than an actual deity - a positive influence on humanity, standing for free will and enlightenment, the personification of who humans ought to strive to be like. Luciferianism shares similarities with nontheistic Satanism in the sense that both faiths do not follow deities but act in an ‘anti-Christian’ way: taking their antichrist back to his roots and following his original name meaning and attributes - although with Satanism this is based on the Christian fallen angel and with Luciferianism more of a philosophy associated with ancient religions as opposed to newer Abrahamic ideas.

Theosophical Luciferianism was championed by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a Russian author and the occultist founder of the Theosophical Society. Theosophy, in short, is a crossover between philosophy and religion, the ‘wisdom of the gods’, leading to enlightenment, although it is also the name of a modern Western esoteric movement we may cover in a future issue. This branch of Luciferianism focuses on enlightenment, seeing Lucifer as the personification of knowledge acquisition. It takes from many closed cultures to gather together its own personal definition of enlightenment and this is where it conflates with Theosophy itself.

The beliefs held by Luciferianism are incredibly similar to those held by LaVeyan Satanists - they uphold free will as ever-important, cite morals as an individual issue, and seem to focus on personal enlightenment over the bettering of society as a whole. Luciferianism can be seen as a selfish religion due to this; other religions teach about assisting others, whereas Luciferians often believe that they only need help themselves and ensure their own welfare. It does, however, encourage acceptance of other religions and does not require attempting to convert anyone to this system of beliefs.

The Greater Church of Lucifer was founded in Texas in 2014 and follows the idea that people should be striving for becoming godlike themselves, possibly through an endless cycle of lives and learning. They follow the 11 Points of Power written by Michael Ford in order to try to become gods. This is strikingly similar to LaVey’s Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth, with the difference being that LaVey focused on time as a human, the ego, and the idea of Satan, whereas Ford focused on spiritual enlightenment, deification, and Lucifer the Morning Star.

Following on from becoming gods, Luciferianism also has links to Gnosticism, the early 1st Century philosophical and religious belief system that upheld the idea of attaining knowledge in the pursuit of enlightenment, and may have heavily influenced Luciferianism, Thelema, Theosophy, and other Western occult practises. It would appear that Luciferianism is not nearly as simple as it appears at face value and is, in fact, part of a far, far bigger picture.

FURTHER READING

Per Faxneld - Satanic Feminism: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth Century Culture (2017, ISBN 978-0190664473)

Michael W. Ford - Apotheosis: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Luciferianism and the Left-Hand Path (2019, ISBN 978-1099891458)